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Parents and staff urge stronger PE, more site staffing and clarity on teletherapy as trustees seek budget details
Summary
Public commenters and trustees pressed the district on physical-education credit access, site‑level staffing (Bush Elementary) and the use of teletherapy in special education during LCAP and SELPA hearings; staff said teletherapy is used when staffing shortages exist and that about 17 teletherapy providers served sites this year.
Several parents and school staff used the district’s public‑comment and public‑hearing slots to press trustees for concrete changes to student services and staffing.
At the public comment portion tied to the LCAP and general budget, Miss Terry Welsh said many students are lacking meaningful PE credits and criticized reliance on phone apps and activity packets for physical‑education assignments. “Many of our kids live in unsafe neighborhoods — I’m not going to ask them to go outside and walk,” Welsh said, urging the district to design alternatives that do not assume universal phone access.
Christina Rey, a school‑based mental‑health parapro at Bush Elementary, told trustees that her site has not been allowed to hire a program specialist because personnel rules count a teacher on leave as an unfilled position. “We have not been allowed to hire that person … our students are really suffering and our teachers are struggling,” Rey said, and asked the board to explain the hiring constraints and consider exceptions to support student learning.
Trustees raised related questions during the SELPA presentation about teletherapy for speech and language services. Special‑education presenters said remote speech services were used this year because of staffing limits and that the district currently utilizes approximately 17 teletherapy providers serving multiple sites; staff emphasized their intent to return to in‑person services when recruitment allows. "We have approximately 17 currently this year," a special‑education presenter said when asked how many teletherapy staff were engaged.
Staff also described site supports for parents who face language barriers and noted efforts to expand family engagement through Family Resource Centers and translated materials so more parents can participate in site councils that influence local budgets. Trustees asked staff to provide a fuller special‑education budget presentation later in the summer so the board and community can see districtwide contributions and how LCAP allocations fit into the broader special‑education funding picture.
What the district said it will do next: Staff promised a full special‑education budget briefing (beyond the LCAP’s LCFF portion), a one‑page ESSER spending summary for the public and email follow‑up to commenters about specific site hiring questions. Trustees and staff repeatedly asked parents to join school site councils and ELACs to influence funds allocated to their schools.
The exchange highlighted tensions between districtwide budget constraints (declining enrollment and restricted funding rules) and site‑level needs for staff and program specialists; trustees signaled follow‑up work and additional budget reporting would be provided to address those concerns.
Ending note: The board closed the public hearings and proceeded to roll‑call votes on the SELPA plan and the other items on the agenda.
